Criminal Justice News

Monday, June 18, 2012

Cockeysville Man Sentenced to Over 24 Years in Prison for Producing and Possessing Child Pornography

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Ellen L.
Hollander sentenced Leo Aragon Evans, age 56, of Cockeysville, Maryland, today
to 292 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for producing
and possessing child pornography. Judge Hollander also ordered that upon his
release from prison, Evans must register as a sex offender in the place where
he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex
Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United
States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent
in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special
Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE)-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief James W. Johnson of the
Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott
Shellenberger.

According to Evans’ plea agreement, on
January 10, 2011, a 9-year-old female reported to Baltimore County Police that
Evans had repeatedly sexually abused her over the past year. These acts
occurred while the victim and another 10-year-old girl were under Evans’ care,
sometimes at his home.

The next day, Baltimore County Police
searched Evans’ residence and seized a video camcorder and two tapes. Review of
the tapes revealed that both depicted images of the 9- and 10-year-old girls
engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In the first video, Evans is heard
directing one of the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he
videotapes the abuse. In the second video, Evans filmed the girls in the
bathtub, telling them to stand up so he can film their naked bodies.

Further investigation revealed that
Evans had been the subject of three prior investigations involving the sexual
abuse of three other minor girls.

On January 19, 2011, a woman reported to
the Baltimore County Police that she had used the key she had to Evans’
apartment to retrieve her personal belongings and had discovered two
“massagers,” or sexual devices, that matched the description provided to police
by one of the minor victims. On April 16 and 17, 2011, a family member entered
Evans’ apartment, with his permission, to search for family photos and other
items of sentimental value, while Evans was detained at the Baltimore County
Detention Center. The family member found a baggie containing photos of three
of the prepubescent girls, including photos of the victims engaged in sexually
explicit conduct. The photographs of one of the victims matched the description
of the photographs that she reported to police in 2003, which had been taken of
her seven years earlier.

This case was brought as part of Project
Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department
of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and
abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals
federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute
individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
For more information about Internet safety education, please visit
www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein
commended the FBI, HSI, Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore
County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr.
Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the
case.